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Pennsylvania Child Custody

If you're the parent of a child under the age of 18 and you're divorced or have split from the child's other parent, you may want to establish paternity, get a child custody order and agree on child support. A Pennsylvania child custody attorney can explain your legal options and lead you through the process.

Pennsylvania Child Custody Basics

Types of Child Custody: There are two types of child custody in Pennsylvania: Legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody describes which parent is responsible for making major life decisions that affect the child. Physical custody determines where a child lives most of the time. A parent may have sole custody or the parents may have shared custody.

Custody Process: You are not legally required to get your child custody arrangement reviewed and ordered by the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. The state recommends you file for custody if you're worried the other parent may kidnap the child or if your informal agreement isn't working.

Visitation: If one parent has sole physical custody, the other parent will typically be awarded visitation, or the right to spend time with the child. There are a few forms of visitation, including supervised physical custody (meaning a third party is present during the visitation) and partial physical custody (meaning the parent with visitation can take the child away from the custodial parent for periods of time).

Child Support: The state assumes that both parents should contribute to the financial costs of raising a child. To ensure this occurs, one parent may be required to pay child support to the other parent. In calculating Pennsylvania child support, the court looks at each parent's monthly income, including alimony, the number of dependants each parent supports, child care costs, health insurance premiums and other monthly expenses.

Reasons to Hire a Pennsylvania Child Custody Attorney

There are a few reasons to consider hiring a Pennsylvania child custody or child support lawyer:

To help establish paternity

To obtain a child custody order or enforce an existing order

To obtain a child support order or enforce an existing order

To ensure that you are treated fairly during the child custody and child support negotiation process

To change an existing child custody order or child support order

Find & Hire a Pennsylvania Child Custody Lawyer

If you need to hire a Pennsylvania child custody lawyer or child support attorney, you've come to the right website. Attorneys.com offers a free service that can match you with Pennsylvania child custody attorneys in your area.

To get started, call us at 877-913-7222 or fill out the form on this page. Whether you're in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie or elsewhere in the state, we can quickly connect you with a local child custody lawyer.